Part Two of Three
Continuing our conversation on self-directed education, Peter and I discuss creativity and critical thinking - two skills we agree are left underdeveloped (or even damaged) by public school and college. This track leads us into a more general conversation about current college problems, including the anti-intellectual and anti-critical thinking trends of the recent years.

On critical thinking, Peter has referenced studies and surveys that reveal about 50% of employers are dissatisfied with entry-level, college graduate employees (PayScale Inc.) and that college does little to improve higher level thinking (Academically Adrift: Limited Learning On College Campuses - 2011).

On creativity, Peter wrote a piece called As Children’s Freedom Has Declined, So Has Their Creativity. Peter informs us that there are actually quantitative studies, including the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, that show a marked decline in children's creative capacity since the 1980s. We discuss the causes of this decline in detail.

We finish with a friendly disagreement (then agreement) on the educational merits of video games.

Dr. Peter Gray is a research professor of psychology at Boston College, and author of Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life. Peter serves on the Organizing team for the Alliance of Self-Directed-Education. He also runs a blog on Psychology Today called Freedom to Learn, where he regularly explains and promotes self-directed education from a variety of angles.

In part one we discussed the biological foundations of self-education.
In part three we'll discuss Peter's vision for self-directed education in the future.

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